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giddy

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The definition of giddy is a feeling of dizziness or of excitement.

(adjective)

An example of giddy is an overexcited child on Christmas morning.
An example of giddy is when you are given the title of President of your company and you are excited but a little bit nervous at the same time.

See giddy in Webster's New World College Dictionary

feeling dizzy or unsteady
causing or likely to cause dizziness: a giddy height
turning or circling around very rapidly; whirling
1. inconstant; fickle
2. frivolous; flighty; heedless

Origin: ME gidie < OE gydig, insane, prob. < base (*gud) of god, god + -ig (see -y): hence, basic meaning “possessed by a god”

transitive verb, intransitive verb giddied, giddying

to make or become giddy

Related Forms:

giddily adverb
giddiness noun

See giddy in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective gid·di·er, gid·di·est

a. Having a reeling, lightheaded sensation; dizzy.
b. Causing or capable of causing dizziness: a giddy climb to the topmast.
Frivolous and lighthearted; flighty.

intr. & tr.v. gid·died, gid·dy·ing, gid·dies

To become or make giddy.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English gidi, crazy

Origin: , from Old English gidig; see gheu(ə)- in Indo-European roots

Related Forms:

gidˈdi·ly adverb

gidˈdi·ness noun

Word History: The word giddy refers to fairly lightweight experiences or situations, but at one time it had to do with profundities. Giddy can be traced back to the same Germanic root *gud- that has given us the word God. The Germanic word *gudigaz formed on this root meant “possessed by a god.” Such possession can be a rather unbalancing experience, and so it is not surprising that the Old English descendant of *gudigaz, gidig, meant “mad, possessed by an evil spirit,” or that the Middle English development of gidig, gidi, meant the same thing, as well as “foolish; mad (used of an animal); dizzy; uncertain, unstable.” Our sense “lighthearted, frivolous” represents the ultimate secularization of giddy.

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